How The Name `Nylon` Evolved From `duparooh` And `nuron`

Excutives at Du Pont Co. had quite a task on their hands when they decided to come up with a non-technical, generic name for the world`s first manmade fiber.

During the early stages of development, the substance was known simply as ``66,`` an abbreviation for the number of carbon atoms in the two chemical compounds (six each) that made up the fiber.

The executives, figuring that most women would probably resist ordering their stockings by official chemical name, polyhexamethlyeneadipamide, formed the ``Named for Fiber 66 Committee.`` Because hosiery made of 66 did not easily snag, the name ``norun`` was repeatedly proposed-and repeatedly rejected. ``Klis,`` or silk spelled backward, was another popular offering.

``Nuron`` (norun spelled backward) was suggested, but the committee agreed that that sounded like a tonic for nerves.

Among the more far-fetched ideas: ``Duparooh`` for ``Du Pont pulls a rabbit out of a hat,`` and ``Delawear . . . Like the First State it is the First Synthetic Textile.`` The latter is said to have come from Lammot du Pont, then president of the company.

There was a feeling that because the names of two commonly used textile fibers-cotton and rayon-ended in ``on,`` the commercial term for 66 should follow suit.

The committee fiddled around with nuron some more and came up with

``nulon,`` but the legal department rejected that name since it was too close to a registered trademark. The suggestion was made to change the ``u``

to an ``i,`` producing ``nilon.`` The committee liked that, but there were fears that the word would be mispronounced. Eventually, the ``i`` was changed to a ``y.``

More than 400 words were considered and, after a 2 1/2-year search, the name ``nylon`` met with the approval of Du Pont`s naming committee, the legal department and, apparently, all stocking-wearing women of the world.